• 5May 13

  Video games and Violence - from a Violent Generation

  So here is a topic which is killing me, I mean seriously, people saying that "Violent games make people violent" its amazing that people are so ignorant of many things and just assume things. What did you say? Kids killing like in GTA? Read on a-bit and you will see what I am saying.
  
  The years 2008 to 2013 have been a time where the influence of video games on children has been closely observed and have been a scapegoat for organizations and media around the world. Some-one starts killing cause of some psychiatric issue and people say its cause of violent games. Video-games rating board has been stopping games from being released cause of its sensitive nature, and companies are restricting their imagination and freedom of expression cause of the same reason.

  Lets look back a bit, 8 years back from 2008, say 1999, 2000. There were games like Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Manhunt, Postal, Duke nukem, Carmaggedon, Giants Citizen Kaputo, Starcraft, Turok, GTA1,2, Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike 1.6, Half-life, Hitman, GTA Vice City (ggwp), Total War, Diablo 2, hey lets pull in Contra too. You see where this is going? Im around 20 now, so at that time I would have been around say 7-10 years old, and I had played these games, in a society which never thought of it, or of its effect on me. Now, lets think a little bigger, there are a whole generation of kids who were the same age as me in that time, maybe give an estimate of +/- 3 years, and you can see that a lot of kids who are 20 +/- 3 years old now.
  
  Has the world gone insane? Is every young adult crazy? A killer?

  A whole generation has been brought up with playing violent video games all their childhood. These were the times when video games were mature, un-cut, and absolutely RAW. Now, I have a question: If we can be brought up playing such games, and were all right, why the FISH aren't we so called "violent people"?
  
  Family, friends, parents, you, me, these are the things that affect a child. In a world where there are so many things that can affect a person, its easy to lose sight of what really affect people, socialization and interaction with each other are what build us, our character and ourselves.
  
  I have ran over people, shoot people, sneaked into asylums, jumped from a plane, changed the course of history, killed the Lord of Destruction, diffused a bomb and neutralized terrorist, but I ain't the only person who has done this. We have all been through the same, and we all lead awesome lives.
  
  See us live, in peace and know that your a complete moron. We prove you wrong everyday we live.

   

  -GGWP

  • Posted May 5, 2013 9:51 am GMT
  • Category: General
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• 11Jul 12

  Start-off with a BANG!

  Mass-effect 3 DLC. Extended-Cut, Explains more.

  Are these words giving any life, or attention to anything worth noticing.
  I know this comes out late, and kinda out of time, but it was something that made me realize the problems that the game industry is having as of late.

  Mass-effect 3 was one of the most anticipated games of this century. I for one, was waiting for it since the very first Mass-effect. It was one of the first games I was so fond of that I bought the original for the PC (ok, so I download most of my content), but the preview and the atmosphere of the game made me feel guilty, and wanted to genuinely support the company, so I went and bought myself the original, and I think I finished it around 4 times, with different classes. Now, that was satisfying.
  
  
  Mass-effect 2 was a mixed-reaction for me, the idea of building up loyalty and having a highly complex and interesting ending level was just brilliant. However, the story of the level itself was a sort of a let-down, cause the reapers were depicted as such a powerful being in ME1, and the perspective that it gave, was of a being which would redefine the very physics of nature.

  Given such an epic villain, you could only expect that BioWare had something just so mind boggling (Like the matrix) that every scene you played of ME2, made you want to know what the hell are the Reapers. When ME2 gave the ending with the harvesters and creating a titan like thing with human tissue, it just KILLED it. Why would a something (Reapers) of such insane power resort to human harvesting? I mean its like Superman asking Batman for help.To me that started the doubt of wheather BioWar had the material and the surprise that would make it a sensation.

  
  The Trailer of ME3, kicked me into gears a bit. It was epic in the notion that I depicted earth in this insanely futuristing world of Mass Effect, and also that the key to understanding the reapers was infact hidden on earth. Which then gave me a false hope that BioWare did not lay down all their cards in the ME2. Furthur, insult to injury was when they should the 1st level in GS preview, and hyped it so much that you would have expected that you would resort to most of you time on earth rather than flying around, which wasn't a bad thing.

  The same level, was finished in under 2min when the game released and made the players (or only me) feel cut-off. The whole idea of gaining 'War Assets', gave a level of life to the game, in which every decision you made would make you ponder on its weight and value. The it shut-down back to the mortality of the Reapers. The fact that there was a "War" going on around you as you get the assets, was just lame, cause the depiction of the reaperas was so inflated that you would have expected them to think about killing you and uir already dead, not have lasers and starwars rip-offs to combat human.

  Finally came the child in the final level and its options as to how to end it all. Despite the insight it gave as to what the reapers are and to what purpose they were created, it just gave more questions than answers. So you expected that the each ending would give light to it. But nothing happened what you expected happened, and nothing enlightening.

  
  NOW, whats has the game industry got to learn from this? For starters, have an idea. IMO I feel that for a game to be successful it should have a concept, upon which the would is build, and Mass Effect provided (initially), with the 'Mass Effect' phenomenon, which was the REASON for the title of the game, but never built on it. Which give me to think, did BioWare design the game, and its world, without an idea of the final result. Did they actually started the project with 'Well cross that bridge when we come to it'. BioWare started ME franchise with out knowing what do at the end. It was like starting a speech with 'I have a dream..', and ending with 'Thank you for this opportunity...'.

  This is what companies need to see, build a game with a theme, with an idea. Build up to it, or explore it, reveal it, let players experiement with it. It whats makes good games, and its what can break good games. Mass Effect basically, made players percieve that they have a birlliant idea, concept, and revealed it bit by bit, only in the end to not have one at all.
  
  It is important that all companies realise other companies mistakes and build on it. They really need to put their nose down, and find innovative ways to analyse other companies, whose winning formulas have died, or redeemed to glory.
  
  GG, Good Gaming.

  • Posted Jul 11, 2012 4:49 am GMT
  • Category: Computers
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